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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26555482">Please Tell Us Why (You Had to Hide Away for So Long)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumpkincat77/pseuds/pumpkincat77'>pumpkincat77</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Bucky Barnes-centric, Fluff, M/M, Tony Stark-centric, much fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:53:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26555482</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumpkincat77/pseuds/pumpkincat77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky really should have known that playing touch football with this lot would not end well.</p><p>In which Steve suggests a game of touch football for the first and last time, Thor tackles Bucky and crushes his prosthetic arm, and Tony is Bucky’s only hope of fixing his arm before his mom finds out and lectures him to death.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bucky had known at once when Steve suggested a game of touch football that it would not end well. But Steve had looked so excited about having some good old American fun together that Bucky didn’t have the heart to refuse.</p><p>In the span of about ten minutes, Bucky learned several key facts about his friend group.</p><p>First, Natasha was inhumanly good at football. Bucky was not sexist by any means, but it was still a shock to see her dodge Steve, who was more than a head taller than her, and throw the ball seventy yards straight into Clint’s waiting arms.</p><p>Bruce revealed he had an alarmingly short temper behind the ruffled hair and mild disposition. He had glared so viciously after losing possession of the ball that Clint had yelped and hidden behind Natasha for safety.</p><p>Bucky had always seen Thor as the most cheerful, well-intentioned guy he had ever met, which was saying something considering he’s best friends with Steve. Given the events of the past 30 seconds, Bucky was thoroughly revising his opinion due to Thor forgetting they were not, in fact, supposed to tackle each other with great force and mangle the other’s prosthetic arm.</p><p>Which brings Bucky to the last point and the reason why he was just sitting on the ground, staring miserably at the remains of a previously working arm: his mother was going to kill him. Not quickly, he wouldn’t be that lucky. Bucky’s mom would lecture him to death, which was sure to be an excruciatingly slow process.</p><p>“Hello? Soldier boy, snap out of it,” said Clint, waving his hand in front of Bucky’s face. Bucky had earned the nickname “Winter Soldier” when he had broken his ankle and had looked, as Clint put it, “super emotionless, like if you took a soldier and froze him in an iceberg.”</p><p>Bucky didn’t really remember what happened, but the doctors had told him he had gone into shock from the pain and his body had shut down.</p><p>“Bucky! Are you okay? Does your arm hurt?” Steve pushed Clint aside and checked Bucky over with worried blue eyes. “You didn’t hit your head, did you?”</p><p>“I’m fine, nothing hurt except for my arm,” said Bucky.</p><p>“Friend Bucky, I offer my sincerest apologies for injuring you so grievously,” said Thor, who came up behind Bucky and lifted him to his feet as if he weighed no more than a sack of flour. He looked at Bucky piteously. “Please forgive me.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” said Bucky, patting Thor on the back with his uninjured hand. “Though my mom’s not gonna be happy. She could barely afford to pay for this in the first place.”</p><p>The surgeon who had fitted Bucky’s prosthetic had warned him to be careful, and advised him not to play any contact sports. Playing tackle football with Thor was probably the most contact of all contact sports, the guy was built like a Norse god.</p><p>“Well, at least she’s out of town until Friday,” said Steve optimistically. He had firsthand experience with the formidable disapproval of Winnifred Barnes, and was as eager as Bucky to avoid incurring her wrath at all costs. “All we have to do is get it fixed before then without her knowing.”</p><p>“Uh, Steve? That’s in like three days,” reminded Clint. “How are we gonna find a doctor to fix it by Friday, let alone pay for it?”</p><p>Bucky felt a flood of warmth. Clint said “we” so casually, as if it was assumed that they would all help him figure out what to do. When Bucky had transferred to Avengers High in the middle of his senior year, he had never doubted Steve’s friendship, but the entire group had welcomed him without a second thought. Bucky had never had friends like these at Hydra Academy.</p><p>“You could always ask Stark,” offered Natasha.</p><p>“Tony Stark?” said Clint incredulously. “That weirdo?”</p><p>“Clint, don’t be rude!” scolded Steve. “He’s not a weirdo, he’s just…”</p><p>“Eccentric,” finished Clint. “I almost forgot, ridiculously rich people are called eccentric, not weird.”</p><p>“Who?” said Bucky, feeling out of the loop. He had been here for a few months, but had never heard the name before.</p><p>“Tony Stark is the heir of Stark Industries,” said Bruce. “I heard he had a custom workshop built on school grounds for himself, but nobody knows where.”</p><p>From what Bucky knew of Stark Industries, Tony Stark would be inheriting billions. But Bucky still couldn’t imagine anyone, billionaire or no, convincing Headmaster Fury to give him room for his own private workshop.</p><p>“I know where it is,” said Natasha, and they all stared at her. She smiled at them blandly. “I decided to follow Stark once. He goes there every day during lunch. I was curious.”</p><p>“Are you sure Stark would know how to fix it?” said Bucky doubtfully. “My arm’s pretty complicated, I’m not sure I’d trust another high school student with it.”</p><p>Bruce pushed his glasses up his nose. “Tony could probably do it. We have that engineering class together, and he’s about a hundred times smarter than I am.”</p><p>The group paused to reflect on how smart Tony Stark would have to be if Bruce, the resident genius, had endorsed his skills to such a level.</p><p>“Well, I guess it can’t hurt to ask,” said Bucky, suitably convinced. “Lead on, Black Widow.”</p><p> </p><p> Bucky didn’t know what he had expected to see. A rich kid in his private workshop brought to mind minions scuttling around while a guy dressed in Armani or Gucci sipped at a fancy coffee, lounged on a velvet sofa, and barked orders at them.</p><p>The first discrepancy was the fact that the door to the lab was in a random hallway, somewhere between the janitor’s closet and the boiler room. It was silent before Bucky knocked on the door. There was no answer, and he knocked again louder, wondering whether Stark was out today.</p><p>When the door opened, a cacophony of wailing noise Bucky tentatively identified as AC/DC assaulted his ears, along with a voice saying, “I’ve eaten lunch, Pepper, I swear! Don’t look at me like – ah!”</p><p>Bucky came face to face with a boy half a foot shorter than him. His dark hair was sticking up on the left side, and he had a smear of motor oil across his cheek. Bucky could barely make out the word “Metallica” across his faded shirt, and his jeans had holes that did not look intentional.</p><p>“You’re not Pepper,” said the boy, pointing at Bucky with an accusing finger and looking a little horrified. Bucky noticed several scars on his hands.</p><p>“Nope,” said Bucky, and squinted at the boy. “<em>This</em> is Tony Stark?” he asked, turning to Bruce and suddenly less than confident that his arm would be fixed by Friday.</p><p>Before Bruce could answer, the boy said indignantly, “What is that supposed to mean? Do you think I let just anyone into my workshop?”</p><p>“Hi Tony,” said Bruce, sighing. “This is Bucky Barnes.”</p><p>“I know,” said Tony, and promptly turned the color of a tomato.</p><p>Bucky thought he heard Clint snicker behind him.  “Have we met?” asked Bucky, confused.</p><p>“No!” said Tony hastily. He inched backwards, as if tempted to close the door in their faces. “But we’re in the same history class. You know, with Mr. Coulson. Second period.”</p><p>Bucky blinked. “We are?” He thought he would have remembered Tony, though to be fair, Bucky wasn’t one for paying attention to anything going on in class, whether it be the teacher or his fellow students.</p><p>“Anyways, we wanted to ask you a favor,” said Steve, stepping forward and smiling at Tony earnestly.</p><p>Tony’s eyes flicked towards Steve before going back to Bucky and finally settling on the floor. “What is it?”</p><p>“Bruce told us you’re pretty good at engineering and all that.” Steve motioned for Bucky to show Tony his arm. “Bucky hurt his arm earlier, could you take a look?”</p><p>Tony’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, are you alright? Does it hurt? What happened?” He reached for Bucky’s left arm but stopped right before making contact. “Sorry, do you mind?”</p><p>“Go ahead,” said Bucky. “It doesn’t hurt, and there isn’t much more damage you could do at this point.”</p><p>As Tony prodded at the rather damaged machinery, Thor said wretchedly, “I am the one responsible for Friend Bucky’s misfortune. We were in the midst of a rather spirited match of touch football, and in all the excitement, I tackled him and woefully injured my comrade.”</p><p>Tony gaped at Thor, his hands pausing their work. Bucky had forgotten how strange Thor sounded to the uninitiated.</p><p>“Ignore his flowery words, Thor’s first language isn’t English and he apparently learned by reading a thesaurus,” said Clint, throwing an arm over Thor’s much taller shoulder with some difficulty. “I’m Clint by the way. I don’t think we’ve officially met.”</p><p>“Hello,” said Tony.                                                                                                                                  </p><p>This prompted the rest of the group besides Bruce and Bucky to introduce themselves. Tony looked more and more overwhelmed to the point that Bucky was surprised he didn’t sigh in relief when the bell rang.</p><p>“Shit, I’ve gotta go,” said Tony. “Pepper and Rhodey are gonna kill me if I don’t meet up with them before class starts. Bucky, meet me here tomorrow when lunch starts, and I’ll look into fixing your arm, yeah?”</p><p>Bucky barely had time to nod before Tony said, “Great! Nice meeting all of you. See you tomorrow, Bucky!”</p><p>With that, Tony grabbed a backpack from behind the door, closed the door behind him, and took off down the hall.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony groaned and buried his face deeper into the couch. It was the one comfortable piece of furniture in his lab which he kept clean from motor oil and spilled coffee, in respect of Rhodey after the sixth time he complained about random stains on his clothes after a visit. Pepper somehow always remained immaculate, rather like a fastidious cat.</p>
<p>Rhodey patted his friend on the back comfortingly. “Stop being such a drama queen,” he said fondly.</p>
<p>Tony mumbled something incomprehensible to the couch, and then sat up. “Pepper, Pep, light of my life, please help me and talk to Fury for me. He can fix this, he's like some magical wizard with only one eye. A magical pirate wizard.” </p>
<p>Tony gave Pepper his best sad eyes, but they failed to work since Pepper didn’t even bother looking up from her laptop. “You dug your own grave, Tony,” she said, sounding far too amused for Tony’s liking. “You were the one who lied to Bucky’s face the first time you met him.”</p>
<p>“I panicked! I thought it was you coming through the door. It was a very traumatic time for me,” said Tony, resisting the urge to pout. “How did they even know where my lab was?”</p>
<p>Rhodey made a face. “Romanov knows everything,” he said sourly.</p>
<p>Tony wondered briefly what story was behind that expression, but there were more important matters to handle.</p>
<p>“Maybe I can just hack the school and change my class schedule,” mused Tony. “That would be easy.”</p>
<p>“And then none of the other students would think it strange when one day Tony Stark shows up to their class?” said Rhodey.</p>
<p>“I could bribe all of them,” said Tony thoughtfully, warming up to this idea. “Limited edition StarkPhones for all of them in exchange for their silence.”</p>
<p>Pepper snorted. “Good luck on bribing Coulson.”</p>
<p>“How does that man know everything about everybody?” grumbled Tony. “He's omniscient. I’ll bet he calls Fury about two seconds after I change my schedule. It’s like Coulson was a spy in a past life or something.”</p>
<p>“Him and Romanov both,” said Rhodey darkly.</p>
<p>Tony was in the middle of lamenting the unfortunate series of events of two hours prior when Pepper sighed and said, “Look Tony, you can either worry about this pointlessly until tomorrow when Bucky finds out the truth for himself or you can just talk to Bucky before then.”</p>
<p>Tony thought about it. “I don’t like either of those options,” he decided.</p>
<p>“Well, you’ve got about four minutes to decide before school is out and Bucky goes home,” said Pepper briskly. She began packing up her laptop and notebooks.</p>
<p>Tony pictured Bucky asking around whether Tony Stark was in Mr. Coulson’s second period history class. And then Bucky telling everyone why he was asking.</p>
<p>“I hate high school,” said Tony vehemently.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky and Steve walked out of their last class of the day towards the parking lot where Steve’s pride and joy, his vintage Harley Davidson motorbike, was waiting to take them home. Bucky was staying with Steve for the week while his mom was out of town, and had already gained a pound or two on Mrs. Rogers’ cooking.</p>
<p>“Bucky! Uh, Barnes, wait up!”</p>
<p>They turned around to see Tony sprinting towards them like a bat out of hell, his backpack dangling haphazardly from one shoulder. Tony stopped in front of them and rested his hands on his knees, wheezing from the exertion.</p>
<p>“Hey,” he said breathlessly, giving them a sheepish smile. “Bucky, can I talk to you for a minute?”</p>
<p>Bucky glanced at Steve, who said, “Meet me at the parking lot when you’re done. Nice to see you again, Tony.”</p>
<p>There was a moment of silence as Steve walked away and Tony fought to catch his breath and cease sounding like a dying whale.</p>
<p>“I actually wanted to talk to you,” said Bucky. “You ran off so fast earlier I didn’t get a chance to ask about payment. I don’t have a lot of money to spare right now, but I’ll look into getting a part-time job after my arm is fixed and maybe –”</p>
<p>“You don’t need to pay me back!” said Tony quickly. “Don’t worry about that at all.”</p>
<p>Bucky frowned. “I know you’re pretty well off, but it doesn’t feel right. I mean, the doctor would charge thousands of dollars at the very least. Probably an extra fee for a rush job like this.”</p>
<p>Bucky tried to calculate how long it would take to pay Tony back on the earnings of a minimum wage job, but stopped when he realized it would be way after high school graduation. Between this arm and college tuition, Bucky would be in debt for the next decade or so.</p>
<p>“No, really, it’s okay!” said Tony, looking alarmed. “It’s good practice for me. Besides, I might not even be able to fix your arm. I don’t want to get your hopes up.”</p>
<p>“It was a long shot anyways,” said Bucky, shrugging. “My arm doesn’t hurt or anything, so it’s not really a medical emergency or anything. I just figured you were my best chance at getting it fixed before my mom comes home this Friday.”</p>
<p>Instead of reassuring Tony, his words only served to make Tony look even more distressed. “This Friday?” repeated Tony. “This Friday. Like the day after the day after tomorrow?”</p>
<p>“It sounds pretty impossible when you put it that way,” admitted Bucky. “Stevie’s too optimistic. He infects the rest of us with his positivity and suddenly we all start believing in miracles.”</p>
<p>Tony tightened his grip on his backpack strap, and didn’t say anything for a minute. Bucky, feeling bad about putting this kind of pressure on the other, was about to tell him not to worry about all of this and to start mentally preparing himself for the wrath of Winnifred Barnes when Tony said, “Do you want to stay over at my place tomorrow and Thursday night?”</p>
<p>Bucky blinked, and Tony flushed. “So I can work on your arm after school and in the evening!” added Tony, gesturing wildly at Bucky’s arm and talking faster and faster. “The part that will take the longest will be the calibrations, and those are specific to whoever is using the prosthetic, so you’ll need to be there and I tend to work pretty late at night. But it’s okay if you like to sleep early! We can just run tests on your arm whenever you’re up, I’m good whenever, but I wouldn’t want to tire you out. I mean, take away your beauty sleep. Not that you need beauty sleep! You’re perfectly fine as you are, but sleep is important and all that. So, uh, yeah. Want to stay over?”</p>
<p>At this point, Tony looked a little like he wanted to melt into the ground and be one with the pavement.</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” said Bucky, completely nonplussed.</p>
<p>“Not intruding if I invite you,” pointed out Tony, still rather red. “Besides, my parents aren’t around, so they won’t mind.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure?” said Bucky. “I know the time limit is kinda unreasonable, I don’t want you to work yourself too hard.”</p>
<p>Tony beamed at him, his eyes warm. “Completely sure. It sounds fun! I haven’t worked on something new in ages.”</p>
<p>“Sounds good then. Thank you so much, Tony, you're the best,” said Bucky, smiling back. He was both surprised and touched by how far Tony would go to help him. Clint was perhaps right in saying Tony was eccentric, but he was kind and generous and altogether someone Bucky would want to be friends with.</p>
<p>“Uh, right, no problem,” squeaked Tony, backing away from Bucky. He tripped over nothing, flailed about before catching his balance, and dashed off while calling over his shoulder, “See you tomorrow, Bucky! Lunch time, don’t forget!”</p>
<p>Bucky went to join Steve and his beloved motorcycle, wondering what Tony had wanted to talk to him about.</p>
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